34 JULY / AUGUST 2023 Debra A. Mastrian Partner Amundsen Davis LLC DMastrian@ AmundsenDavisLaw. com Amundsen Davis LLC is a Diamond Associate Member of the Indiana Bankers Association. HUMAN RESOURCES In the past, many employers have been hesitant to share salary information, whether out of a fear of fostering competition and internal conflict or making themselves vulnerable to their competitors. Some employers even adopted pay secrecy policies – prohibiting employees from discussing or disclosing their salaries to others.* However, today’s generation of workers value and expect transparency. The demand for transparency in pay continues to grow and many states and localities have now adopted laws requiring pay transparency in job postings and hiring processes, mandating equal pay for equal work, prohibiting pay secrecy policies and banning employers from asking for the wage or salary history of applicants. Some states require that employers publish a salary range in any job listing. Colorado was the first state to enact a pay transparency law (Equal Pay for Equal Work Act) in 2019. The law went into effect in 2021 and applies to any entity with at least one employee working in Colorado. The law requires equal pay for equal work (employers may not discriminate on the basis of sex), pay scale transparency (employers must include a pay range and benefits in job postings for new positions and promotion opportunities, must announce promotional opportunities and must disclose compensation ranges including for remote jobs), and for employers to maintain records of job descriptions and wage rate history for every employee throughout their employment and for two years after employment ends. The law also prohibits employers from asking for salary Getting on Board with Pay Transparency or wage histories of applicants or requiring disclosure of the information as a condition of employment, relying on prior pay history to determine a wage rate, and discriminating or retaliating against an applicant for not disclosing their prior pay history. Furthermore, employers cannot discipline or otherwise interfere with an employee for talking about their salary or wage rate. New York recently adopted a statewide pay transparency law that goes into effect in September 2023, and requires employers with four or more employees to disclose compensation or range of compensation to applicants and employees when posting any hiring, promotion or transfer opportunities. The New York law covers not only positions that will be performed within the state, but also those that will be performed outside of New York but report to a supervisor, office or work site that is located within the state of New York. Other states that have adopted similar laws include California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island and Washington. Many more states have enacted laws that ban or limit employers from asking about pay history. On a federal level, the “Salary Transparency Act” was proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives in March. The law would require employers, regardless of their size or number of employees, to include wage range in all internal and external job postings, provide the wage information to applicants and provide wage ranges to existing employees. The law would provide for a private cause of action for applicants and employees. Violations would result in a statutory fine ($1,000 to
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